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Turtles are frequently depicted in popular culture as easygoing, patient, and wise creatures. Due to their long lifespan, slow movement, sturdiness, and wrinkled appearance, they are an emblem of longevity and stability in many cultures around the world.〔Cirlot, Juan-Eduardo, trans. Sage, Jack, 2002, ''A Dictionary of Symbols'', Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-42523-1.〕〔Ball, Catherine, 2004, ''Animal Motifs in Asian Art'', Courier Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-43338-2.〕 Turtles are regularly incorporated into human culture, with painters, photographers, poets, songwriters, and sculptors using them as subjects.〔Lutz, Peter L., Musick, John A., and Wyneken, Jeanette, 2002, ''The Biology of Sea Turtles'', CRC Press, ISBN 0-8493-1123-3.〕 They have an important role in mythologies around the world,〔Garfield, Eugene, 1986, The Turtle: A Most Ancient Mystery. Part 1. Its Role in Art, Literature, and Mythology, ''Towards Scientography: 9 (Essays of An Information Scientist)'', Isis Press, ISBN 0-89495-081-9.〕 and are often implicated in creation myths regarding the origin of the Earth.〔Stookey, Lorena Laura, 2004, ''Thematic Guide to World Mythology'', Greenwood Press, ISBN 0-313-31505-1.〕 Sea turtles are a charismatic megafauna and are used as symbols of the marine environment and environmentalism.〔 As a result of its role as a slow, peaceful creature in culture, the turtle can be misconceived as a sedentary animal; however, many types of turtle, especially sea turtles, frequently migrate over large distances in oceans.〔Plotkin, Pamela, T., 2007, ''Biology and Conservation of Ridley Sea Turtles'', Johns Hopkins University, ISBN 0-8018-8611-2.〕 ==In mythology, legends, and folklore== The tortoise is a symbol of wisdom and knowledge, and is able to defend itself on its own. It personifies water, the moon, the Earth, time, immortality, and fertility. Creation is associated with the tortoise and it is also believed that the tortoise bears the burden of the whole world.〔http://www.eedi.org.ua/eem/3-11eng.html〕 The turtle has a prominent position as a symbol of steadfastness and tranquility in religion, mythology, and folklore from around the world.〔 A tortoise's longevity is suggested by its long lifespan and its shell, which was thought to protect it from any foe.〔 In the cosmological myths of several cultures a ''World Turtle'' carries the world upon its back or supports the heavens.〔 The mytheme of a ''World Tortoise'', along with that of a world-bearing elephant, was discussed comparatively by Edward Burnett Tylor (1878:341). Turtles were presented in rock art.〔:File:Rock-painting-turtle.jpg〕 For alchemists, the tortoise symbolizes chaos, or ''massa confusa''.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cultural depictions of turtles」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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